Crooks must repay £58,000

A WOMAN of 91 conned out of her £185,000 life savings by a gang of rogue builders has been given a surprise Christmas present by a judge. The victim was bled dry by the con artists who carried out work on the driveway of her Wythenshawe home.

A WOMAN of 91 conned out of her £185,000 life savings by a gang of rogue builders has been given a surprise Christmas present by a judge.

The victim was bled dry by the con artists who carried out work on the driveway of her Wythenshawe home.

But a judge, who was slammed earlier this week over the lenient sentences imposed on three money launderers involved in the scam, ordered one of the crooks to pay back her £58,000 profits to the victim.

At Manchester Crown Court, Judge Andrew Blake lifted a `freezing' order on a bank account containing £258,000 and belonging to 64-year-old Josephine Doherty. She now has 21 days to hand the money back to the pensioner.

Doherty walked away from court with a nine-month suspended prison sentence on Monday, alongside 46-year-old Trevor Chandler, from Nottingham, who received £25,000 from the swindle and was given a six-month suspended sentence and 60 hours unpaid work.

Patrick Ward, 21, from Nottingham, who pleaded guilty to a money laundering charge earlier this year after receiving a £2,500 share of the proceeds, was given an 18 month supervision order.

The decision was branded `despicable' by one campaigner for the victims of crime.

But Judge Blake said of Doherty: "The amount in her case was £58,000 and there is more than that in her account.

"I lift the restraining order on that account so the sum of £58,000 can be paid in compensation direct to the victim."

Doherty, who lives on a caravan site in Stoke, and the other money launderers were accused of `turning dirty money into untraceable cash' by allowing cheques from the victim to go through their bank accounts.

Police are still hunting two men - Patrick McDonagh, 35 thought to have had a house in Levenshulme and Kevin Charles Laney, 47, whose last known address is in Hertfordshire.